Ode to the lady traveller: Why we need #WeGoSolo

Women and travelling solo

Women have been travelling and exploring the world alone for generations, maybe longer. Alexandra David-Néel walked into Lhasa, Tibet disguised as a man in 1924, when it was closed to foreigners, and lived in a cave in Sikkim. Freya Stark, like me, was obsessed with the 1,001 Tales of the Arabian Nights when she was a child. She became an explorer and in the 1930s trekked into areas of Iran and Arabia that no foreigners had seen. Dervla Murphy rode her bike, Roz, from Ireland to India in 1963. And these are just the ones we know about, the celebrated ones.

In this day and age there are thousands, perhaps millions, of women travelling the globe solo, and many of them are travel bloggers like myself. We are the new “lady travellers.” But the recent tragic death of a young American woman in Turkey, and the vicious and much-publicized gang rape in Delhi, has some people wondering if women should be travelling alone. To this, we say WeGoSolo! Read on to find out more about this new movement, and how it is supporting and encouraging women to travel safely. And why travel, and travelling solo, is not the problem.

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The WeGoSolo movement is born

Alexandra David-Neel in Lhasa

In the wake of the Delhi Gang Rape (December 16, 2012), there was outrage, protests and the beginnings of a paradigm shift in an inherently sexist country. I was in India at the time, and interviewed and asked if I still felt safe travelling in India; and saw on social media that some women were rethinking their travel plans to visit India. Around the same time, the One Billion Rising movement started to take hold. More recently, a young American woman named Sarai Sierra was murdered while travelling solo in Turkey, and there was a backlash against the idea of women travelling alone.

Like attitudes around rape in India (and elsewhere), there were those who tried to blame the victim. “Why was she out at night?” and “Why was she travelling alone?” were some of the obnoxious questions asked. The real question is, “Why are men harming women?” As travel blogger Jodi Ettenberg so brilliantly points out in this article, Revisiting the solo female travel experience; and Christine Gilbert in this post, The Women Traveling Solo Question, the problem isn’t women travelling solo — it’s violence against women. In fact, women are MUCH more likely to be assaulted and killed by their partners, in their own homes, than they are while travelling the world. Women are much more often the victims of domestic violence. And this is true everywhere.

So, yesterday morning I felt I had had enough. I felt it was time for women travellers to “take back the world” and I suggested we start a blog tag on a popular travel bloggers forum. The idea caught on, and we created the hashtag #WeGoSolo, and started to post our blogs, thoughts and tips on Twitter. The idea of #WeGoSolo is to promote and encourage women to travel safely, and to shine a spotlight on the real problem: world-wide domestic violence against women.

I am writing this about 24 hours after I wrote the first #WeGoSolo tweet, which was

And in that space of time — less than 24 hours, the hashtag has exploded. Last time a report was pulled, about 20 hours after it launched, #WeGoSolo generated 4.4 million tweet impressions and reached 861,000 people via 1,086 tweets from 474 people. Wow.

The idea of #WeGoSolo has had overwhelming support on Twitter — with many travel bloggers writing blogs, and others posting links and resources to help women travel safely, and I am going to keep a running list of them below (add any I have missed to comments, please, and I will edit them in).

There have been the usual naysayers, who do not understand why we even need to talk about this issue. They assume “it’s over, women are liberated, let’s get on with our lives and stop dwelling on an outdated topic.” To paraphrase some of the tweets I have read. I wish that were true. I was in India and saw firsthand the backlash to the vicious gang rape. Many believe women “ask for it” by wearing western clothing or going out at night. And here in the west, the backlash to Sarai Sierra’s death in Turkey shows that many people still hold repressive and regressive attitudes towards women — instead of pointing the finger at the real problem, violence perpetrated by men against women.

Billboard in Delhi that appeared after Delhi gang rape victim died.

#WeGoSolo is catching fire because we still need it. That’s the truth. There are still women who are afraid to travel, afraid to travel alone; and many women who are just plain afraid. Violence against women is a kind of terrorism. It’s sexual terrorism. And like terrorism, giving in to fear and staying home means “they have won.” And staying home isn’t the solution for another reason: it’s less safe than going out.

Finally, this entire blog is about how I crawled out from my tomb-like apartment, where I was nursing the blows of several devastating losses and stuck in a deep depression. Though afraid, I felt compelled to travel to India, and stay for six months. I had never done anything like this before; and I frankly did not even know if I would live through the experience. In fact, it became the best thing I have ever done, and restarted my life in ways too numerous to list.

Travelling solo saved my life, and changed my life. And it can do the same for you. Don’t hesitate to go — just use common sense, do your research, and read travel safety tips like these.

(As an interesting aside, three of the main people behind the #WeGoSolo movement are from Toronto. Janice Waugh of SoloTraveler created the forum I posted on, and supported the idea immediately; and Evelyn Hannon of Journeywoman came up with the catchy hashtag and has given the movement tons of great support. There are lots of other great supporters too, including many men, like Keith Jenkins of VelvetEscape, but just thought the Toronto connection was cool.)

So, here are the blogs, please tweet, retweet, add your own, use the hashtag #WeGoSolo and dive in and join the movement.

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About Mariellen Ward

Travel writer Mariellen Ward is the founder of the "meaningful travel adventure" blog Breathedreamgo, one of the world's leading travel blogs about India. Join her on a transformational journey and find inspiration and information for living your travel dreams.

45 Responses to Ode to the lady traveller: Why we need #WeGoSolo

Love this, Mariellen. Women need to support each other in these initiatives, and I admire your courage in striking out. It speaks to our inherent nurturing instinct that so many have responded to you. I’ve written about the brave female cabbies in Delhi on my blog drivelikeagirl.ca, which you were so wonderful in supporting. I’ll be following your accomplishments in this, your newest endeavour. Kudos to you.Krystyna Lagowski recently posted..Sisterhood in speed

One of the things that worries me most about the fallout from the negative comments regarding solo female travel is that it will stop some women from doing it. We know it’s safe because we’ve done it. We live it. Women who haven’t experienced it yet may be easily swayed by the mis-information out there. I hope any woman planning to venture into the world alone isn’t perturbed.
This is such an important thing to encourage. Well done Mariellen.Megan recently posted..Travelling solo: I’m not brave. Just smart.

I have been travelling solo for many years in interiors of India and abroad.
And I do unplanned budget travel which is more difficult than just getting into a chauffeur driven car & checking into a five star hotel in safe environs. Safety is an issue but we can not sit back and grumble about it. Can we?

Solo travel is safe if you take care of a few points. We know it’s safe because we’ve done it.

Great post, Mariellen. I’m so excited to see how successful the #WeGoSolo movement is becoming, and that the dialogue is evolving to focus on the real issue at hand – violence against women in general.

So fitting! I just got back from a solo trip to Bangkok. It’s been over 6 years since I’ve traveled alone, not due to having any fears, but more due to having babies

Now that my children are 4 & 2, and I thouroughly enjoyed my 4 days in Bangkok…I think I’ll be doing this a few more times a year. It was so refreshing to only think of myself again!A King’s Life recently posted..To Bangkok. Alone.

Such a great post! I have traveled solo so many times in so many different places, and it was one of the best things I ever did. What happened to this woman is awful, but it had nothing to do with the country she was traveling in or the fact that she was solo. I just wrote a post to contribute to #WeGoSolo (see commentluv) and on my other site I wrote a post a few months ago about the advantages of solo travel: http://travel-made-simple.com/are-you-afraid-to-travel-alone/ I really hope people don’t let the media scare them out of traveling. Traveling is such an incredible, wonderful thing.Ali recently posted..Why I Will Continue to Encourage Solo Travel

Thank you for getting #WeGoSolo going! As Megan stated above, my biggest fear when I started reading hundreds of comments from people saying it’s stupid for women to travel alone was that the women out there who are currently on the fence about heading overseas for the first time will be discouraged from doing so. That was a big reason why I wrote my post.Katie recently posted..No, It&#8217;s Not Stupid to Travel Solo

Thanks for adding our post, Women’s Solo Travel: Keeping safe on the road, to your list.It makes me angry that women have to even think about keeping themselves safe wherever they are. Violence against women worldwide needs to be made a priority. Perhaps if we all say, “Enough” things will change. I keep hoping. Safe travels to all!

It’s great to see a proactive response to an reaction that has left so many of us solo female travellers feeling outraged. I’ve shared some of my own travel tips for solo travellers in my latest post and fully support #WeGoSolo.

Love #WeGoSolo – fab initiative. Think it deserves to live a long life I see a lot of tips mentioning how important it is to wisely choose your accomodation, including the tweet you reference above. WeGoSolo.com has already been grabbed, but I’d love to be able to organize house/apartment swaps with other female solo travellers. Does anyone know of a service like this? Or care to start one?

Hi Michelle, You should try Journeywoman.com, she has a HerMail service where she connects women travellers with women who live in the countries they are travelling to. Not exactly the same, but a start.

I saw that WeGoSolo.com was gone, but I bought WeGoSolo.org, which is more appropriate anyway (and bought .info and .net, too).

I am dismayed by the recent comments regarding women travelling – either solo or with a female companion. This issue about women’s travel safety shows that there is far more going on in the war against women and their rights than we women really understand (or want to admit?). It is time for us women to show solidarity and not allow ourselves to be backed into the 1950s. But there are definitely issues that need to addressed around the globe regarding women’s safety and how they are viewed as travellers. This is a post I wrote sharing my past travel experiences and providing what I hope are some useful suggestions to women considering travelling solo (or with a female friend): http://wavejourney.com/travel-tips/travel-tips-female-solo-travel-safety/Viv recently posted..Travel Tips: Female Solo Travel Safety

Thanks all, for your contributions, I am continuing to add to the list, and there are a lot of great points being made, a lot of great tips being shared. When we raise our voices together we are more able to makes changes. Personally, I want to see the entrenched attitudes towards women change around the globe; I want everyone to see women as strong, equal, and worthy.Mariellen Ward recently posted..The joy of coming home to Canada!

I’ve been travelling, often alone, since the 1970s. My mother travelled alone before me. This is not a new issue.
As some have suggested, the real issue is violence against women. Staying home doesn’t necessarily keep you safe.
The question is, do you want to live a “safe” and boring life, being concerned about what people may say, or do you want to live your life? To me, the answer is obvious.

My first trip abroad solo was in my teens, before the safety net of internet, calling cards and online money transfers. For me, it’s fundamental to know my destination well beforehand–having a good visual memory helps me memorize a city’s map before I even get there. A gift of a tiny compass that can be velcro’d to the strap of my bag helps me nagivate at night when I can’t use the sun for orientation.
Women shouldn’t stay home. I do think, though, that if we have an issue with the way the government and local officials in certain countries deal (or don’t deal) with victims of violence and prosecution of crime, we can and should VOTE WITH OUR TOURIST DOLLARS and spend them in countries where they are making an effort to end the violence against women and girls.Lesley Peterson recently posted..ArtSmart Roundtable: Is that a Buddha in your backpack?

Interesting idea Lesley, only travelling to places that are making an effort to end violence against women. This would be a tough call to make though …. Personally, I would rather travel where ever I want, and perhaps help promote women’s equality and safety while there.Mariellen Ward recently posted..The joy of coming home to Canada!

Thank you Mariellen for the inclusion. I sincerely hope these resources will be useful to those women travelling alone. It really breaks my heart to see women being harassed when travelling alone. #WeGoSolo is a great creation and hopefully will create awareness and further resources can be found easily.Shalu Sharma recently posted..10 things you will hate about India

Really enjoyed this post and all your links to other bloggers. I had no idea there were so many of us out there! I’m new to all this solo travel blogging and it was actually #WeGoSolo that got me to realize what a huge community I’d been missing. I thought I was just this weird person who really enjoyed traveling to exotic places by myself!

I really like what you said Lenore: “The world has to see us out there.” I agree, it will help change perceptions of women all over the world.Mariellen Ward recently posted..Life of Pi: Film and music shimmer

Just stumbled on your post from the TBEX tweet! Love the #WeGoSolo hashtag. I’ve traveled solo many a time – mostly to the Caribbean (Jamaica, Grenada, etc.), to Belize (most recently, where I spent 7 months) and to Europe. I’ve also lived long term in those places, solo. Having the courage to travel on my own over eight years ago completely changed my life for the better!

As a long time solo traveler, I’m pleased to see more and more women out in the world along. I write a weekly column for a little paper in New Mexico and recently posted a piece on why I prefer solo travel.

We have special experiences because we’re alone. We talk more to the people around us than to our companion. We sometimes need help, and we get it in ways a couple would not. And the end result is a travel experience unique to people who travel solo. I hope more women will garner the will and desire for this kind of travel.

I am preparing for a year long RTW trip with my girlfriend. We will be visiting 6 different continents along the way. My number one priority is keeping her safe. Couldn’t agree more with Evelyn Hannon’s assessment that women (as well as men, if you are traveling as a couple), need to arm themselves with knowledge before going anywhere. Women’s safety is not just a “solo travel” issue…its a world wide issue for travelers and locals alike. My girlfriend and I will be taking a self-defense class prior to our trip…it is geared specifically towards protecting your spouse and avoiding dangerous situations. Being prepared is key!Wade recently posted..Travel Scams: Are You Prepared?

How have I only just discovered the #wegosolo revolution?! Absolutely brilliant idea, and I will definitely be following the hashtag from now on. I am in the process of writing about some of my solo adventures and it’s exciting to see that I am not alone (pun intended;-)).Lynnette Hoffman recently posted..Lucky they were friendly drunks…

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